


I believe you.

by LeoKitty



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Azkaban, Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-25
Updated: 2016-05-25
Packaged: 2018-06-10 16:54:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6965374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeoKitty/pseuds/LeoKitty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ernie had to see Stan Shunpike, to judge for himself whether his old friend really had done the things he was accused of.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I believe you.

Ernie shivered despite himself. He almost hadn't come, but he had to see Stan and judge for himself. The Stan he knew would never join the Death Eaters, at least not voluntarily. He could be pretty thick, and he had a loud mouth, but he was a good lad.

Stan sat with his back against the wall, as far from the door as he could manage. His eyes had long since adjusted to the gloom, although there wasn't much to see. Nothing to see, nothing to do except listen to the mutterings of the man in the next cell and slowly lose his mind.

Ernie saw a dementor a little way ahead and instinctively slowed his gait. The patronuses of the ministry guards who'd accompanied him here provided some protection; Ernie couldn't imagine being here without them. But Stan was. How long would it take to destroy that lively smile and that quick tongue?

Stan felt the sinking rush of misery as the dementor approached. He clenched his fists and whispered under his breath, muttering like the man in the next cell. Innocent, innocent, innocent... He felt the patronuses before he saw them, a sudden warmth which grew from the pit of his stomach. All around, the muttering of the other inmates stopped as they crawled closer to the light. Probably just some ministry bigwig passing through to do an inspection, but like everyone else Stan would make the most of the moment's relief. Just a moment of escape from the cold and despair which wore away at his mind and soul every second of every day. "Stan!" He thought at first he was imagining the voice, that he'd lost it at last, but then it came again. "Stan! It's Ernie."

At first glance, the figure in the cell looked nothing like Stan. Stan was always lively, a story for every occasion, never allowing a moment's silence if he had an audience. Leaping up to greet Ernie the moment they met. The figure in the cell was silent, limp, turning his face slowly to look towards the speaker. "Ernie?" he croaked. "It really you?"

"Yep, it's me. What have you been doing, then? Don't tell me it's true..." Stan heard the crack in Ernie's voice, the fear in the question. Even his best friend thought he'd done it.

"I'm not- one of them! Honestly! I'd had one too many in the pub and starting shooting my mouth off- you know me, Ernie! Always saying stupid things. Next thing I knew, there were Aurors everywhere and I was being handed over to-"

Ernie looked at the desperate man in front of him. Stan was no Death Eater; You-Know-Who wouldn't have him, even if he wanted to join. Certainly wouldn't tell him important secrets - no-one in their right mind would tell Stan secrets. OK, You-Know-Who wasn't in his right mind, but nor was he stupid. Quite the opposite, unfortunately.

"Believe me, Ern-" Stan begged, his eyes fixed on his friend's face. Ernie crouched down to move nearer his level.

"I do believe you," Ernie whispered. "You-Know-Who isn't dumb enough to tell you secrets, even if you wanted him to. And you wouldn't- you're a good lad. I've had to hire a new conductor, another spotty-faced kid fresh out of school. Like you when you started, only not as good."

Stan felt tears prick his eyes. Why was it this, of all things, that affected him? Not seeing Ernie again, not Ernie saying he believed Stan, not really the fact that Stan was in here at all- hearing that Ernie had hired a new conductor. Stan had come straight out of Hogwarts, got the job on the Knight Bus, and hadn't looked back. He and Ernie had been working together for- only about five years, actually. It felt like longer.

Ernie saw Stan's face crumble and wished he could do something. Talking through the bars, in Azkaban- it did some good, but not much. Stan shouldn't be in here, but it was always the stupid ones who suffered while the smart ones dodged the law. Stan was a good lad, but he wasn't bright, too quick to speak and too slow to think.

"Hang in there, Stan," Ernie told him. "When they realise you're innocent, you'll be out of here in no time. For now, Azkaban is probably safer for you."

"Ern- please, get me out... Anywhere's better than here."

"You know I can't, otherwise I would. Just keep on remembering you're innocent, that you're the one in the right. Grin at those dementors, tell them you're too strong for them."

"I can't! You don't know-"

"Of course I don't, but I've got a pretty good idea. And I'm telling you that you can do it. Hang in there, for me. You have to keep going until you're let out, then I want you back on my bus with your usual inane prattle to keep me sane. Well, not sane, maybe, but..."

"I'll do my best," Stan promised. One of the ministry workers said something and Ernie stood up to go, and suddenly the brief hope fled. Ernie was leaving him here, alone with the dementors and the mutterer next door. "Ern, please..."

"There's nothing I can do, Stan. Except tell you- I'm still your boss, so I can order you- to hang in there and get that smile back on the bus. Think! Another story to tell - and a true one this time: how you laughed at the dementors and didn't let them bother you, how you were locked up for something you didn't do but you kept going until you were let out again."

"It's my stupid mouth that got me in here in the first place. When- if I ever get out, I'm not going to boast ever again. I'm going to keep my mouth shut and just do my job, no more trips to the pub."

"Don't you dare! I want my Stanley Shunpike back, not some stranger. Otherwise I might as well just keep on that spotty-faced boy who's filling in for you. You say things you shouldn't, get yourself in trouble, talk a bit too much sometimes, but maybe because of that you're my best friend. I wouldn't change you for the world."

"And you're always so wise and strict. Too bossy sometimes, but I like you just the way you are. I'll be back soon - 'welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard*' - has little spotty-face learnt not to fall over yet?"

"Nearly. He's getting the hang of it quicker than you did! Now listen to me, Stan. I have to go now, but I want you back on my bus as soon as they let you out. Stick out your wand hand and I'll be straight over to pick you up." Ernie forced a final smile, trying to prompt Stan to do the same, then the ministry guards gestured him on.

"Ern! You really mean it? You believe I'm innocent?"

"Would you say you're innocent?"

"Yes! I-"

Ernie silenced him calmly. "Then I believe you."


End file.
